Milnrow - Governance

Governance

Lying within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire since the early 12th century, Milnrow was a chapelry and component area of Butterworth, an ancient township within the parish of Rochdale and hundred of Salford. Under feudalism, Butterworth was governed by a number of ruling families, including the Byrons, who obtained the title of Lords of the Manor. Throughout the Late Middle Ages, local men acted as jurors and constables for the purposes of upholding law and order in Butterworth. Butterworth in the 19th century constituted a civil parish, until its dissolution in 1894.

Milnrow's first local authority was a Local board of health established in 1870. Milnrow Local Board of Health was a regulatory body responsible for standards of hygiene and sanitation in the wards of Belfield, Haugh and Milnrow. In 1879, a part of Castleton and another part of Butterworth were included in the area of the Local board. Under the Local Government Act 1894, the area of the local board broadly became the Milnrow Urban District, a local government district in the Rochdale Poor Law Union and administrative county of Lancashire. Under the Local Government Act 1972, the Milnrow Urban District was abolished, and Milnrow has, since 1 April 1974, formed an unparished area of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester. In anticipation of the new local government arrangement, Milnrow Urban District Council applied for successor parish status to be granted to the locality after 1974, but the application was not successful.

From 1983 to 1997, Milnrow was represented in the House of Commons as part of the parliamentary constituency of Littleborough and Saddleworth. Between 1997 and 2010 it was within the boundaries of Oldham East and Saddleworth. In 2010 Milnrow became part of the Rochdale constituency, which is represented by Simon Danczuk MP, a member of the Labour Party.